Unthawed Ice
by Catch My Clover
Summary: "And here I thought for once in your life you could be nice." //Kim/Skull implied, 1/1, PG-13//


TITLE: Unthawed Ice   
AUTHOR: Catch My Clover  
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers belongs to the one and only Saban! Let us rejoice, for I own nothing but my *clover.* Which is NOT a Pokemon, despite what my name says to do. *grins* Oh, and the lame poem is mine. But its bad, so. . .  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I have, in fact, not written anything of Power Rangers in over a year, nearly two years. I will not tell you who I used to be . . . because I really don't want to say. But this is the first fic I've written since then. So, um, yeah. Skull might be slightly OOC, but, you know . . . This is set about just before they begin to change.  
DEDICATION: To J and C, they know who they are. J, thanks for the pairing encouragement, lol. And SP, for his beta skills. Many thanks! *grins*  
PAIRING: Kim/Skull lightly implied, mentions of Kim/Tommy  
RATING: PG-13 for light language  
  
  
  
  
It was really just her luck, to be paired with one of the two *jerks* in Angel Grove High School. Someone up above must've said, "Hmm . . . How can we make Kimberly Hart miserable today? Let's start with making her not hear her alarm clock, then making the sale at the new clothes store end *yesterday* and pair her up with Skull at school. And THEN we'll have her spill red juice on her new white shirt." Yeah, sure, the juice part hadn't happened yet . . . but it was only ten in the morning.

"Kimberly, are you going to help me or not?" Skull snapped. Kimberly blinked back her bitter thoughts and looked down at the notebook paper in front of them. It was blank, of course, except for the messy scrawl of their names in the top right corner.

"Since when do YOU like care about school?" Kimberly wrinkled her nose, staring at the teen bully in the desk chair next to her.

"Since I have detention for a moooooonth if I don't get an A," Skull snapped, and absently ran a hand through his hair. He frowned, and then added, "And Bulkie wouldn't like it if I had detention."

"Oh?" Kimberly looked mildly interested as she began writing numbers down the sheet of paper. "Do y'guys, like, date or something?"

Skull looked horrified at the thought. "WHAT?! NO! Bulkie and I are," he looked around the classroom in exaggerated calm, "looking for the Power Rangers still!"

Kimberly's eyebrows rose. "Oh. You two are still going on about that?"

"Until we can unmask them, yes," Skull proclaimed. He hastily turned his haughty brown eyes to the piece of paper as the teacher walked by. "Okay, lets get to writing. Ten things you find attractive in the opposite sex. Then we have to write a poem about it using them."

"Whoever heard of love poetry for a class assignment," Kimberly muttered. She brought the pink pencil up to her face, chewing on the end thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose . . ."

"Eyes," Skull said instantly, and Kimberly was once again started from her thoughts from the boy next to her.

"What?" Kimberly said, startled. "... You believe that?"

"I'm not a total bastard who chooses through breast size," Skull snapped. Kimberly stared doubtfully at him. "What?! Its true! I'm not an idiot, you know . . . I've matured a lot since freshman year."

"I guess," Kimberly said as she scribbled down the word. She hummed to herself, "What about smile? Its the first thing I noticed about Tommy," Kimberly smiled dreamily to herself at the thought of her long-haired boyfriend.

Skull shrugged, "Yeah, I guess . . . Put it down at number three, though."

"Why?"

"If we're going by what you saw of Tommy first, I'm sure it was his butt. I remember you being with, what's their names, Trini and Zack, and Billy, watching them fight. You were really cute, too . . . Just standing there watching, a dazed look on your face while rooting on Jason." Skull felt his face flush in embarrassment. "And you probably would've been ditzy, like always, and fell on your face and broke your arm if Trini hadn't distracted you in front of everyone," he finished lamely, a trademark smirk (courtesy of Bulk) settling on his lips.

Kimberly scowled. "And here I thought for once in your life you could be nice."

"I could *show* you how nice I can be," Skull's smirk widened. "So, how about 7 o'clock and I'll show you how I can rock your world."

Kimberly squealed, "Ewww! Gross! Skull!!!"

"Is there a problem, Kimberly?" The teacher's stern voice floated across the room, causing a quiet and curious dim of whispers to settle throughout her peers.

"Uh, no," Kimberly stammered, lowering her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll be quiet now, Mrs. Applebee."

The teacher smiled faintly, "Class is finished, anyway. Your poems are due on Monday so please find *some* time to work on them." When she finished talking the bell rang and Kimberly gratefully began to stuff her bag full.

"So when are we going to finish this?" she demanded after a moment.

Skull shrugged. "Beats me." And he left, not bothering to wait for a response from the petite brunette.

"Err," Kimberly frowned, "he makes me so mad!!!" 

*** 

"Its *so* unfair," Kimberly squawked dramatically, slipping into the seat next to Aisha in the Juice Bar at lunchtime. "Skull! Partners with that... doofus."

"Tough break," Aisha agreed, sympathetically. "I have that same project, but I got paired with Rocky. So, I can sort of feel your pain."

"Hey," Rocky objected from the chair across the table. "I happen to be very good at poetry!"

"Yeah, sure," Aisha mocked. "All you can write about is martial arts and girls."

"Dream on," Rocky scoffed. "I have more substance than that!"

"Prove it," Aisha daunted.

"'Your eyes sparkle like polished diamonds in bathed moonlight,'" Rocky offered. Aisha and Kimberly exchanged shocked looks.

"Since when can you write poetry?!" Aisha demanded, her brown eyes crinkling.

"You never asked," Rocky chided in return.

"Well . . . you should have said something! And here I was sweating over having to write a dumb old love poem by myself!"

"Never, my lady," Rocky dipped his head in acknowledgment. "Not when you have your knight in shining armor."

Aisha giggled, and swiveled in her seat to look back at her friend. "So, Kim, where's Tommy?"

Kimberly shrugged, scrunching her nose in thought. "Dunno. He, like, should be here . . . Maybe he's off studying with Billy and Adam?"

"Alas, but not with me," Billy said, making his presence known. He hurried up to the table, loaded down with library books. Aisha quickly stood, grabbing the top books as they fell from the pile. Aisha thumbed through a couple of the books as she placed them on the table. _Love Poems and How to Write Them_, _How to Describe A Girl In Thirty Words_, _Romantic Quotes and When to Use Them_.

"Studying hard, Billy?" Aisha raised an eyebrow as Billy placed his pile next to Aisha's stack. He carefully pushed the basket of fries away from them and smiled.

"Affirmative. I'm not very capable of writing a love poem on my own, so I'm hoping that these modern texts will guide me through this difficult curriculum. I'm afraid my skills in English lack when I try something creative in prose."

Kimberly's nose wrinkled as she digested Billy's words. "Um, you need to use books to help you write a poem so you don't suck?"

"Yes," Billy nodded, lips quirking at Kimberly's phrasing. "Quite."

"So, who is your partner?" Rocky asked, curiously.

"I elected to veto a partner," Billy admitted. "I'd rather learn this on my own. I hoped to gain some assistance from Alpha on females from his fireside." At the blank looks he received, he clarified, "Home," and was met with a chorus of "Oooh!"

"You guys are lucky," Kimberly moaned, thinking again of the poem project having to be written with Skull. "I'm partners with SKULL."

"I'm sorry, Kim," Billy said, sympathetically. "He's a real pain to work with . . ."

"You can say that again," the Pink Ranger muttered, remembering class just a few hours ago. She shuddered. //It could be worse,// she thought distractedly, as she watched Billy start to read a textbook. //At least I know about girls!// 

*** 

During last period, study hall, Kimberly met Skull in the library. They both appeared to be in bad moods, which didn't really surprise her. Lord Zedd had sent down a monster and Putties right after lunch, causing Kimberly to miss 6th period and Bulk and Skull to be in the middle of things, yet again. Skull had been trailing behind her, she in her Pink Ranger uniform, asking questions and trying to get her to talk to him. She wouldn't so finally snapped at him to go jump off a bridge. Obviously the Pink Ranger's words had affected him more than she attended them to.

"Shall we write?" Kimberly asked dully, taking out her notebook and pencil. Skull shrugged, staring stonily at the bookcases that lined the walls.

"I guess." he said.

Kimberly nodded, and began to jot down words that came to her mind about what she liked when guy scoping with Aisha. Eyes and smile were already there, so she added hair, personality, and humor. Too bad she just couldn't put down 'Tommy,' as he *was* the perfect guy and all . . .

Skull snatched the pencil away from her, causing her to squeak in surprise, and he jotted down the rest of the list. After a few moments, he wrote a few lines of prose and stopped, nibbling on the end of his right thumb finger nail. Kimberly couldn't help but admire them, if really the only nice feature he had. Fingers like musicians, long and thin. He stood up after setting the pencil back into her hand.

"There. Here's my contribution. Use what you like . . . I'm going to go. People to flush down the toilet, money to steal, you know the drill."

Kimberly stared frazzled after him, watching him leave swiftly, his leather jacket billowing like a cape behind him. She glanced down warily at the paper and read what was written. 

_With eyes glowing like the sun,  
And a smile to warm ice,  
Laughter to thaw the coldest thoughts,  
And a side of pure fluff,  
The Pink Ranger is the heart of the team,  
For she's the one I see when I let down my shield,  
And melt my insecurities away._

Kimberly blinked several times, staring at the words, then towards the door where Skull had left. It seemed, this time, she was the one with the unthawed ice. 


End file.
